The excellent and revolutionary game Wii Fit has had an upgrade in the past few weeks. This is the sequel: Wii Fit Plus.
UPDATE - MAY 2010. After the Christmas rush the bundles are back in stock and the prices have dropped accordingly. Game.co.uk are the cheapest at a great price of £214.99 in [...]

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is due for release on 18th November 2011 and is already garnering high critical acclaim

14th November 2011: 2011 has truly been the year of Zelda, with Nintendo celebrating the 25th anniversary of the epic adventure series, The Legend of Zelda™. To cap off what has been a year to remember for Zelda fans, Nintendo is set to launch one of the most highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda titles of all time, The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword, exclusively for Wii™ on 18th November across Europe.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword lays the foundation for the events in The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time, which is frequently cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is already garnering very high critical acclaim and is looking certain to surpass the review scores from any other game in the series. Leading video games publications from across the world have been keen to point out how much they have enjoyed playing the game:

Edge, 10 out of 10 – “A triumph”, “How apt that this ultimate tale of hero-making should see Nintendo’s hardware become the console it was always meant to be.” December Issue.

Game Informer, 10 out of 10 – “It’s the first 10 that I’ve ever given out in my two years at Game Informer”, “This impressive combat system leads to some of the most interesting boss battles in the series’ history.” December Issue.

IGN, 10 out of 10 – “Ocarina of Time has met its match”. “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” is the greatest Zelda game ever created. It’s the best game for Wii and one of the finest video game accomplishments of the past 10 years”, ”Once again, Nintendo is demonstrating its unparalleled ability to craft some of the greatest gameplay this industry has ever seen.”

“It’s time to dust off your Nunchuk - this is the game the Wii was made for. Skyward Sword is the best Zelda yet for sure - full of lovingly crafted, surprising little touches - Nintendo have created something utterly compelling and quite magical. A brilliant video game - in almost every way. One of the best Wii games of this year and of any year.” The Times, Douglas Rankine

“After 25 years of brilliance, Skyward Sword is the best Zelda yet. It soars above any other adventure game in the market today.” The Sun, Derek Brown

Fans and media alike can’t wait to guide Link on his all-new journey through a multi-layered world. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword seamlessly blends intense ground-based adventuring with breathtaking exploration above the clouds. Wii MotionPlus™ technology is fully utilised for the first time in a Zelda game, allowing you to glide through the skies on the back of a majestic bird and dive through the clouds to the continent below. This new and epic quest is set against a backdrop of a distinctly unique graphical art style and boasts a classic Zelda soundtrack which for the first time features fully orchestrated music.

The launch of this game heralds the most realistic sword combat of any game to date on Wii. Thanks to the introduction of full motion controls enabled by Wii MotionPlus, you can look forward to a completely immersive and natural gameplay experience where every movement of the Wii Remote is replicated on the screen. In a recent Iwata Asks interview, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata spoke to series producer Eiji Aonuma about the addition - Mr. Iwata says: “I suppose it’s like gradually becoming able to use a brush better, or a chisel”, to which Mr. Aonuma replies “Or maybe a musical instrument. As you’re using it, your body grows familiar with it and you gradually master the use of it.”

Wield your Wii Remote™ Plus, or Wii Remote with Wii MotionPlus accessory and watch it faithfully replicate the angle of every sword slice. Different enemies have different battle tactics, so you must analyse their approach and develop counterattacks that play on their weaknesses. The game’s wide array of items also utilise full motion control, letting you roll bombs, shoot arrows and guide flying objects like never before.

The moment that all Zelda fans have been waiting for is taking place on 18th November when The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is released across Europe exclusively to Wii.

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.8 billion video games and more than 610 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi™ XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance™, Super NES™, Nintendo® 64 and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in Europe.

So How About A Wii is back… I’ll be blogging semi-regularly about all Wii related news. Especially the gossip, rumours, facts or half-truths about the upcoming sequel to the Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo haven’t released a massive amount of details yet, or even confirmed the name, just that it is codenamed “Project Cafe”. The names that have been bounded about on the internet so far for the sequel are:

Wii 2 - would make sense, but Nintendo seldom are this straight forward.

Wii HD - again, this would make sense, but what would happen when HD is outdated. Which could happen, as these acronyms for new technologies change faster than Usain Bolt can run the 100 metres!

Nintendo Stream - really? I’m not that convinced by this one, but it’s possible.

Nintendo Feel - with the Xbox Kinect now out and doing it’s thing, Nintendo have to respond with a trump card. Could feeling your Wii games be the way forward? Does that even make sense?

The only information that I’m certain of, is that the spec for the Wii 2 will be released to the world at E3 2011. That is at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 between June 7th and June 9th 2011.

The original Red Steel was one of the most hyped games when the Wii was launched in 2006. Unfortunately, it was probably the biggest disappointments of the launch games. We all dreamed of being able to use the Wii controller to slice and dice the bad guys with accuracy! This was not the case as I’m sure you’ll agree if you have ever played the original.

4 years on and the sequel Red Steel 2 is soon to be released with the same amount of hype, and thanks to some hands-on previews it seems all our prayers have been answered. Red Steel 2 will be launched in the UK on March 26th 2010, the USA release date is March 23rd 2010.

At the bottom of this Red Steel 2 UK Release Date page is the IGN.com Red Steel 2 video preview. This shows some excellent shots of the game. It also describes how the Wii controllers have been utilised to make this a compelling RPG game for hard-core and newbie gamers alike.

In Red Steel 2 you control a character with no name, who is the last survivor of a clan - The Kusagari. The developers Ubisoft have tried to make the swordplay as intuitive as possible by using the Wii’s ace, the Wii Motion Plus Controller (One of these controllers can be bundled with the game). I am loving the fact, that Red Steel 2 is a brand new game, so it has relevance to the dire original - Red Steel.

The setting is in a futuristic Cowboy-like metropolis with influences of both the Far East and the Wild West. For example, you battle with 2 types of weapons, the katana (Far East), and the revolvers (Wild West). This first person shooter teaches you how to play the game through required training levels and as you play through the game.

By earning money throughout the game you can upgrade your weapons or learn new special moves. These sequences are executed by using combinations of buttons on the Wii Remote and Wii Nunchuk. The gameplay is almost at a constant 60 frames per second, so for the Wii this should be one of the most fluid looking and playing games available.

Red Steel 2 can be pre ordered from the usual retailers. The RRP is £39.99 for the game alone, or £49.99 with a Wii Motion Plus accessory attached. I’ve personally got mine in from Amazon.co.uk, as they, for some reason, have the Red Steel 2 bundle at a cheaper price. It is currently at £29.73, which is a saving of over 40%. Check out the table below to get the Amazon.co.uk link and a great pre-order special edition from play.com. This Play.com Exclusive Pre-Order Pack includes:

Back in 1994, an arcade game was made called Fast Draw Showdown, that for the first time, allowed you to draw a gun in a duel against a lifelike opponent in the American Old West. It was a successful machine that can still be found in a few arcades today. If you can’t find one in an arcade, or find an arcade, you can always download the game on the Nintendo Wii’s Wiiware Channel which just re-released it for 500 Nintendo Points.

Fast Draw Showdown is a western quick draw game that capitalizes on the most underused genre in video gaming, the old west. The object of the game is to simply outdraw your opponent. Each opponent has their own qualities such as speed or accuracy, as well a s quirks that tip off when to draw.

The presentation for Fast Draw Showdown was great in 1994, and still is in 2010. The game was originally made using laserdisc technology, (ah the 90’s) which allowed for actors to be filmed into the game. Therefore everything in the game is REAL. The sounds in the game are also top notch as it is all recorded from real sounds. There is corny western music in the game which adds to an “old west” mystique to the game.

The controls on the Wii version emulate the original game. In the arcade, the controller was a six shooter replica that had to be inserted in a holster before drawing. After drawing, you would aim the gun at the enemy and fire as quickly as possible. In the WiiWare version, the revolver is replaced by the Wiimote, and the holster is replaced by simply pointing the Wiimote down. This may be the thing I like least about this game as the Wiimote does not feel good emulating the six shooter, and buying a gun add on like the Perfect Shot will not work with this game.

The gameplay is good, but not as good as the arcade version. The core elements from the arcade version are well ported, making for a fun arcade experience. The enemies are portrayed by corny actors which gives the game a camp appeal that can only come from the 1990’s. The difficulty increases manage to provide each gunslinger with a challenging experience. One of the few misses comes from a lack of an add on accessory. The port also misses from the original with the lack of a holster, which makes it easier to win but less true to the original, as it will shave time off your draw time. You can also cheat the game by simply pointing close to, but not on the screen, shaving further precious time it takes to draw and fire.

Despite its few shortcomings, Fast Draw Showdown is still a solid game to own on the Wiiware. The game is well made and has a cheap price of only 500 Nintendo Points, or $5. It’s difficult to find a game so well made, that creates a fun experience for such an inexpensive price. This is what makes Fast Draw Showdown a very recommendable game.

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